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The original plan was to go to Humor from Sibiu using two trains, but the schedule said they missed connection by a half hour. Plan B was a bus to Cluj to catch the train, but N. suggested Plan C. Simply taking the
autobuz all the way instead. It was a good suggestion, as it would avoid a frantic rush from the bus garage to the Cluj train station and the second bus I had to connect with left minutes after I arrived.
At 5:00 we woke up and N. drove me to the bus stop and saw me off. The first part of the trip was an experience of what I take to be the "classic" Romanian roads of legend. It wasn't that it was so pot-holed as seemingly designed to be rough. It made me think of a friend who said: "If you have loose teeth let me take you for a ride." It smoothed out considerably after we hit a major town and we started making good time. But not good enough to get to Piatra Neamt on time. I missed my connection by a half hour and I had to wait for the next one for 4 hours. Because I was afraid of missing it I stayed in the station waiting.
I amused myself by watching the interplay between some gypsy kids and the drivers. The kids would purposely annoy the drivers who would call them names, knock them on the head with empty soda bottles causing the kids to jerk away and run away laughing, only to return and start up again with the drivers. I gave them my extra sandwich and my bottle of highly-chocolated cold coffee. Charging up a already hyper kid may not have been the best idea.
As the time of departure rolled around I saw that a different bus was in my assigned stall, but since I seen a bus pull away only to me replaced immediately by a second bus I wasn't worried. The offending bus got ready to pull out of the space when the driver who brought me earlier came up and said something in Romanian that obviously was more or less: "What are you still doing here?"
"The bus never came."
"It just left."
"How? I'm been standing here the whole time!"
"It was in Stall 13!"
"But the schedule says 15!!"
"Quick, take the taxi and catch up to it!!"
He threw me and my bags in the back of the cab and we tore out. My eyes searched for the bus and we passed a couple that the driver said was locals. Twenty minutes later, as the meter was racking up numbers with no end in sight I called ahead and frantically told Daniela (Ross's gazda) that I couldn't afford a 4 hour cab ride and gave the mobile to the driver while the two of them went back and forth about what to do with me. The driver promised to take me to the next town's bus garage and drop me off. And then he freaking stopped for gas!!! Not to mention directions to the bus stop as the numbers kept adding up. Yikes! Five minutes after he dropped me off (and drove off with 120 of my lei) the bus pulled in.
It was the bus that we passed in the first minutes of the ride!!!!
I simply had to bend over and take it like a man.
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Nancy Koenig
non-member comment
Language
This is where even a little Romanian language would be helpful! However, even that would not guarentee things to be better. The same thing happened to me. The train took off from another track and we had to wait 4 hours for the next one. Good thing though, there were 1.5 lei beers across the street from the gara!